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Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands leadership election, 2015
The fourth election for a leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands took place from June to July 2015. The party chose a leader to succeed Lawrence Porter, who had been leader since October 2009 and Prime Minister of Georgeland since 2010. The two candidates were Robbie Jones , Deputy Prime Minister of Georgeland , and Deborah Rhodes , Minister of Culture and wife of former Prime Minister, now Mayor of Santa Christina , Campbell Rhodes . After winning a decisive victory in the first round of the vote, held among Liberal Democratic parliamentarians, Rhodes became the front-runner awaiting a vote of the party's rank-and-file membership. However, on July 17, Jones withdrew from the election, leaving Rhodes to be elected unopposed. Ms. Rhodes will become Prime Minister on August 2, when Porter will formally resign and President Eileen Purves will appoint Rhodes to succeed him. The election was criticised by party membership and some sectors of the media and commentariat for the manner in which it was conducted. Following the announcement of Jones' withdrawal, Rhodes announced the rules will be changed and refined further at the next party conference. Constitution and Rules The party's constitution lays out the procedure for a leadership election. The first round of voting will take place in early August, and will consist of the party's elected members of the House of Commons and Senate, a total of 171 electors. Any member of the parliamentary party is eligible to nominate, though technically any person can nominate, even if they are not a serving MP (see below). The two highest-placing candidates in the ballot, regardless of whether one has an outright majority, will then go through to the second round, a vote of all 81,000 members of the party's rank-and-file. To be elected, a candidate must win more votes on aggregate, with each round given a 50% weighting. A candidate who wins 52% of the party room vote must also win more than 48% of the rank-and-file vote. At the two previous leadership elections, in 2007 and 2009, no rank-and-file ballot was held, due to unanimous elections and factional deals. Porter stated in the speech announcing his retirement that he expected a number of candidates to contest the ballot, and hoped that it would be put to the party membership. Only the party's leader will be chosen; the party's Deputy Leader and leaders in the Senate are appointed by the party leader. Candidates Declared * Deborah Rhodes, Minister for Culture and wife of former Prime Minister Campbell Rhodes (who is now Mayor of Santa Christina), declared her candidacy on April 7. She is the first member of the Cabinet to declare her interest. Rhodes is unaffiliated with either wing of the LDP, but would presumably have the support of her husband, who commands considerable interest in the party. On 29 June, Rhodes won 56% of the party room vote and became the front-runner, with some commentators suggesting her victory was almost guaranteed. * Robbie Jones: The incumbent Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has been generally considered the preferred successor by Porter himself, though he hails from the moderate faction of former Democrats. Jones announced he was running on April 27 via Twitter, and was considered to be the front-runner until the party room vote. Jones withdrew formally on 17 July, leaving Rhodes to be elected unopposed. Not running * Adam St. John, currently Treasurer and the acknowledged leader of the former Georgeland Party faction of moderate centrists, announced on April 6 that he would not seek the leadership "at this time." * Campbell Rhodes, former Prime Minister and currently Mayor of Santa Christina, has repeatedly refused to outright rule out a return to national politics. He commands a large amount of support within the party, and despite not being an MP, this could easily be rectified. However, with Rhodes' wife a declared candidate, he declared on April 9 that he would support his wife's candidacy and not contest the ballot, committing instead to seeking a second mayoral term in 2016. * Robin Sales; Formerly Chief Minister of East Mainland, then party leader in opposition from 2007 to 2009, Sales is Foreign Minister and was considered as a serious contender, with strong support from moderates and right-wingers in the party. On April 15 he declared he would not be a candidate, citing his age (he will turn 63 in 2015) and the need for a younger candidate to take the reigns, though he refused to nominate one. * Geraldine McLean, former Mayor of Santa Christina and currently Education minister, ruled herself out of the leadership race on April 13. *Erica Lucas ruled herself out of contention on April 21, and endorsed Deborah Rhodes. Withdrew * Clare Price, Minister for Industry, sought the leadership previously in 2005 and is a major figure in the party's left wing. On April 12 she declared she was running, and was speculated to be the front-runner of the three declared candidates. However, she announced her withdrawal on April 23, citing her family (her husband is in remission from bowel cancer, and her daughter is at university). She endorsed no candidate. * David Keeler, Minister for Employment and Business, announced on April 10 that he would run for the leadership after encouragement from "many colleagues". However, he withdrew five days later, and at the same time announced he would resign from Cabinet and not seek re-election in 2016. * Janet Hunt, Minister for Health, Families and Community Services and leader of the government in the Senate. Hunt declared her candidacy on April 11, with the proviso that if elected she would do just that. Hunt said she was running because she believed the government needed a new focus and direction, which surprised commentators. Hunt has never been seen as a potential leader and was not known to have strong ambitions in that area. Hunt is a leading figure in the party's right-wing, but her position in the Upper House may cause her to lose support. A story in the Santa Christina Herald on April 12 quoted an unnamed inside source suggesting Hunt's candidacy was a "personal quest to stop Price at any price", but that Hunt could withdraw if a stronger candidate from her faction emerged, such as Robin Sales. On April 25, Hunt withdrew, two days after her rival Price also withdrew. Timeline * Nominations for leadership close: Friday, May 15 * First-stage ballot (Parliamentary party): Monday, June 29 * Registration for second-stage vote closes: Friday, July 17 * Postal votes all to be sent to electors: By Friday, July 31 * Close of postal voting: Friday, August 15 * Winner declared: Between Friday, August 15 and Friday, August 22 * New leader to be sworn in as Prime Minister: By Tuesday, 1 September Results Party room On 29 June, the 171 members of the Party's parliamentary wing cast their votes in the party room. The results were as follows: The result, announced at 11am, was closer than expected, leading many to believe some kind of factional deal had been struck. Jones said he was looking forward to making his case to members, acknowledging he was no longer the front-runner. Membership Postal voting among the party's membership will end on August 15, with ballot papers distributed throughout July. Some voting will also take place in branch meetings and at various regional offices. To win, Rhodes must obtain only 43.3% of the vote, while Jones needs 56.7%. The voting process was not completed, as Jones withdrew from the contest and Rhodes was declared elected unopposed. Criticism While the election was conducted in accordance with the party rules, it became apparent early on and was reported that several potential candidates had been dissuaded from standing in exchange for positions in government, with Rhodes especially being criticised for attempting to dominate the contest. On 18 June 2015, the Globe and Standard newspaper reported five anonymous government MPs were "very angry" with the way the election was being conducted, and that Rhodes' supporters were 'bullying and intimidating' their way into winning the vote. The party room result was released immediaely after it had been taken, and this also caused considerable criticism. With Jones knowing he would have to win a significant portion of the rank-and-file vote and that he was statistically unlikely to do so, critics argued (such as the Santa Christina Herald ''), it was almost guaranteed that he would have to publicly withdraw. The ''Herald suggested the entire vote had been arranged ahead to ensure there would not be a second round, although it did not suggest any behaviour had been untoward, or blame one candidate specifically. The Conservative Party was scathing in its criticism, however. Opposition Leader Madeline Woods said the vote showed there is "no culture of democracy" in the Liberal Democrats and that the election result had been a "stitch-up". The Conservative leader is elected solely by parliamentarians; however, Woods has pledged to review this process before the next election. Category:Elections